The invention is based on an engagement relay for starters of an internal combustion engine. The windings and circuits previously used in such starters, which are designed for winding equality between the pull-in winding and the retention winding in order to avoid an induction retention force after the opening of the ignition switch by the reverse current flowing via the relay switch contact to the pull-in winding and the retention winding, led to an increase pull-in speed of the engagement relay for shifting the starter pinion into the gear ring of the engine, so that part of the advantage of the two-staged process is lost again.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an engagement relay for starters which avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.
In keeping with these objects, one feature of present invention resides, briefly stated, in an engagement relay for starters of internal combustion engines, in which the switch is formed as a switch over contact, which in the position of repose switches the starter motor for gentle start up to the electrical supply via a resistor and directly to it in the working position, and then the resistor is turned off.
This is achieved in an advantageous way by disposing a contact pair in insulated fashion below the contact plate of the relay. In the position of repose, the contact plate rests on this contact pair and thus forms a so-called xe2x80x9copenerxe2x80x9d. Once the relay armature touches the switch pin, and once the pinion of the starter has reached the gear ring of the engine, this opener opens and turns off the resistor, before the contact plate meets the main current contacts. In the turn-off process, the opener is not closed again until the main current has been interrupted.
Because of the separate triggering, it is possible to adapt both the resistor and the pull-in winding to requirements independently of one another. The resistor wire is wound in meander fashion and then curved to form a ring so that the beginning and end are located side by side, and then is finally slipped onto the pull-in winding.
Further advantages of the invention will become apparent from the dependent claims, the ensuing description, and the drawing.